NASA | GSFC | STScI | HubbleSite | 2018 Sep 17
An unusual infrared light emission from a nearby neutron star detected by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope could indicate new features never before seen. One possibility is that there is a dusty disk surrounding the neutron star; another is that there is an energetic wind coming off the object and slamming into gas in interstellar space the neutron star is plowing through.
dust that produces an infrared signature as detected by NASA’s Hubble Space
Telescope. The second illustration is of a pulsar wind nebula produced by the
interaction of the outflow particles from the neutron star with gaseous material that
it is plowing through. (Credits: NASA, ESA, and B. Posselt (PSU))
Although neutron stars are generally studied in radio and high-energy emissions, such as X-rays, this study demonstrates that new and interesting information about neutron stars can also be gained by studying them in infrared light, say researchers.
The observation ... could help astronomers better understand the evolution of neutron stars — the incredibly dense remnants after a massive star explodes as a supernova. Neutron stars are also called pulsars because their very fast rotation (typically fractions of a second, in this case 11 seconds) causes time-variable emission from light-emitting regions. ...
This is the first neutron star in which an extended signal has been seen only in infrared light. The researchers suggest two possibilities that could explain the extended infrared signal seen by the Hubble. The first is that there is a disk of material — possibly mostly dust — surrounding the pulsar. ... The second possible explanation for the extended infrared emission from this neutron star is a “pulsar wind nebula” ...
The Surprising Environment of an Enigmatic Neutron Star
Penn State University | 2018 Sep 17
Discovery of Extended Infrared Emission around the Neutron Star RXJ0806.4–4123 ~ B. Posselt et al
- Astrophysical Journal 865(1):1 (20 Sep 2018) DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/aad6df (pdf)